Posted by Melvin Pasley on February 09, 2002 at 19:54:45:
In Reply to: Time to learn scuba posted by miguelito on February 09, 2002 at 15:20:25:
You can rent almost all of your gear until you get a chance to look around and decide if you like diving. That said.
First issue. Lets address your comment about how you don't plan to dive very deep. Ask yourself this quiestion, "If you would not be comfortable diving with a piece of equipment down to 130+ feet, then should you really be risking my life with it at 30 or 60 feet?
Second, avoid E-bay or other used equipment sites unless you really know what you are doing and looking at. Several times I have seen "Scuba Tanks" for sale on e-bay or at garage sales that were NOT approved for underwater use. I have also seen a lot of stuff from the 1960's including LUXFUR tanks for sale (read time bomb waiting to happen). You can buy your complete rig brand spanking new with warranty, from a reputable dealer, including custom wet suit for under $1,200. (I bought mine at Sports Chalet for this price, but you can get better pricing if you shop around). On computers, I skimped and bought one that did not interface with my PC to recorde my dives. I figured this was fluff and I did not need it. I was right and wrong. I don't need it but wish I had it. I got bent on a dive, profile was not bad. I wish I had a record of every 10-20 seconds of the dive. When did I get at 110 feet? How long was I there? I only know the information I remember from the times I looked at my compter. I was watching my air like a hawk, but not my depth (12th dive), a rookie mistake.
I now have a coputer (SUUNTO Cobra)I can adjust the setting on and make mor conservative and hook up to my computer and get a print out of every 10 seconds of my dive. This has allowed me to see mistakes and make notes to improve my performance.
Bottom line, buy good stuff and spend the money up front. You are betting your life on the equipment. Once your gear is bought (for about the same price as a set of golf clubs, or less) diving only cost $3.00 to $4,00 per dive for air for a shore dive. Boats are extra. But hey, it is cheap fun. One last word of advice, get D.A.N. or P.A.D.I. or some other type of dive insurance. It cost little, and compared to the $10,00 t $25,000 for a decompression chamber visit, it is cheap. Hope you never need it, but good to have.
Just my two cents.